Beginnings of a Romance
by Xena Minotaur Girl
Summary: SPOILERS ToD2 Oneshot 'There comes a time when one stops seeing someone as their lover's child, and starts loving them for who really they are.' Late Xmas JudasXKyle, mentioned StahnXLion, implied onesided Loni/Nanaly


I know this is a little late for Christmas, but it took... longer than I thought to write it (though what gave me the idea that I'd be able to start this late Christmas Eve and actually post it on the day is beyond me). Anyway, it's just a little fluffy Judas/Kyle that I cooked up - I hope it's not _too_ cliche... ^_^; In short, the idea for this just came to me, and the only person who probably would RP Christmas Tales (or some other fandom) RPs with me was bluntly refusing and was clearly not in any kind of Christmas spirit. So I thought: "To hell with it!" and that's when this little idea was born. It's not the best thing I've written, but it's the first work I've actually completed in a while. But either way, I hope you enjoy it. Merry late Christmas!

Warning: Contains spoilers for both Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny 2. Main pairing is Judas/Kyle (with a little Stahn/Lion), so if yaoi offends you, there's no point reading. :)

* * *

It was late Christmas eve when Kyle and the others finally decided to stop for the night, and Judas found himself leaning against one of the doors heading to the upper floors of the inn, apparently uninterested in the festivities. Loni, Kyle and Nanaly, on the other hand, were all quick to toss aside their winter coats and rush over to the inn's fireplace, and Reala soon followed the three. Both boys were quick to engage in lively conversation as they attempted to warm themselves up - Nanaly rolling her eyes at the pair of them - whilst the younger girl took on the responsibility of booking rooms for them all under strict instructions from Loni.

As the evening wore on, people were slowly beginning to migrate up to their rooms, and the bar area was gradually growing emptier and quieter. Judas watched the people head past him in ones, twos or threes... This would be the first Christmas that he'd spent as 'Judas', he thought. Somehow, although he had only spent one Christmas day with Stahn and his old teammates, he still missed that time.

To most, it would have been a distant memory from eighteen years ago, but to him it seemed like only a few months had passed - which was, to an extent, true. Judas' eyes slid closed, and he couldn't help his mouth curving into a slight smile as he remembered how he and Stahn had spent that night in each other's arms. He knew that the blonde was gone, now, but...

"Judas?" a voice said, seeming concerned. As he opened his eyes, they were met by cute blue ones - Kyle's. The resemblance was uncanny. That he had told Chaltier before now, but sometimes Kyle's expression would perfectly mimic one that Stahn used to give whilst they were traveling together. It was nostalgic for certain, but somehow it was not a painful sensation as Judas had previously thought it might be when he had first realised who Kyle was... No, rather, it was a warm, comforting feeling.

"Judas, are you alright?" Kyle repeated, a little worried having not received an answer. Judas... the dark and mysterious stranger. Really, he still did not understand why Judas had ever helped them to begin with - or why he let Kyle just call him what he wanted in the first place. But... whilst the others were still wary, Kyle knew that he could trust the other swordsman. He wasn't sure how, but he just knew. Loni had always said that he was too trusting...

Judas paused, looking over to the fireplace across the room while he spoke. "I could ask you the same thing. You seem troubled." As always, the black haired boy was blunt and to the point.

Sighing, Kyle shifted his feet, trying to avoid the question... but feeling Judas' almost interrogating gaze return to him, the boy blushed, and shyly looked up at the door-frame above their heads. Uncertain as to the meaning of this gesture, the masked man followed the boy's glance, and his eyes finally landed on a small bunch of... mistletoe?

"That's..." Judas muttered, frowning slightly, and only then did he understand the other boy's intention. A somewhat awkward silence fell over the two, and both managed to avoid looking each other in the eye. The masked man had always held suspicions as to Kyle's true feelings for him - that one time when the two had spoken alone and the blonde had quickly blurted out that he 'really liked him, and wanted to stay with him forever' came to mind - at the time, Judas was unsure whether that choice of wording was simply due to Kyle's naive nature, or whether he was really expressing something entirely different.

"Y-you see I really like you and I mean I told you back then and since we met I've always thought there's something abo--" Kyle began to stammer out his feelings, earning a raised eyebrow as Judas finally looked to the flushed boy, but the dark haired teen simply placed a slender finger on Kyle's lips to silence the babble.

A vague, slight smile graced Judas' face, contrary to the reaction that Kyle was expecting. The elder of the two glanced around, making sure there was no-one around that would recognise him. To say the least, the few people still mingling about the bar and fireplace were hardly likely to pay the two any notice, let alone work out who Judas really was. "Just this once." he said, slowly, and slid his finger from Kyle's lips so his hand gently cupped the boy's chin.

The blonde could only watch in a state of almost awe as Judas glanced around again, before using his free hand to take off the skull mask that he always wore. "Judas..." Kyle whispered in a quiet breath as the pair moved into a kiss. Soft, at first, but soon Judas felt the younger boy's slender arms wrapping tightly around him, and he was quick to respond to the embrace.

The kiss was delicate and tender, the two bodies seeming to become one for just a moment before they broke apart. A soft smile crossed both of their faces, and as their eyes flickered open, they looked into each others eyes for just a moment before Kyle looked away sheepishly, trying to hide his blush. Judas chuckled softly - not realising the colour in his own cheeks - before moving to quickly replace the mask.

Without a word, Kyle reached out and grabbed the dark haired boy's wrist to stop him, wanting the chance to really see what Judas looked like. Certainly, this was the first time he'd ever seen the man take his mask off. Although Judas frowned very slightly in protest, he gave in, and put on a neutral expression while the blue eyes studied his features.

As Kyle has previously observed, the man had striking lilac eyes and thick, dark hair. But more so now than ever, he could see that Judas had an slightly feminine but at the same time attractive face, his delicate features clear now they were not obscured by the bone mask. Perhaps handsome was not the right way to describe him, Kyle mused, he was more... beautiful than that.

The blonde's thoughts were cut off prematurely by an argument that had sparked up over the other side of the room, and Judas quickly slipped on his mask just in time for Nanaly to storm past them, Loni rushing after her protesting something or other. Both boys sighed. This kind of occurrence had become so regular in their group that most of the time they paid little attention to it.

Reala tentatively got up from where she sat by the fireplace and went up the stairs after the pair, hoping that Nanaly would have at least calmed down enough by now to talk to her. A pregnant silence later and Loni came back downstairs: shoulders sunk, arms folded dejectedly, and a growing red slap mark on his right cheek. Apparently, he and Nanaly had a spat. Again.

"Hey... you two don't mind taking the double room tonight do you? I mean, you're both guys and all." Loni said as he approached the pair, scratching the back of his head and putting his other hand on one hip. "I tried to get Nanaly to share with me but..." the man trailed off here, though no more really needed to be said. The red mark on his cheek spoke for itself quite succinctly as to how _that _request went down with her.

If just because they were both too tired from the day's travel to argue this request - not that they did not _want_ to share a room, at least in part - Kyle and Judas agreed, and the younger boy was quick to offer some sympathy to his friend as to the failed attempt at rooming with Nanaly. However, the two swordsmen were then both silent as they wondered up past Loni to the double room, and Kyle quickly excused himself to bed, whilst Judas chose to stay up reading. Really, though, he needed time to collect his thoughts.

He knew that he was in love with Stahn. Since a few moments before he died he'd known. The fact that he had then been revived only to come face to face with that man's son, who was only a year his junior, certainly led to obvious confusion as to Judas' feelings. The boy was clearly naive and though he claimed that he would become a hero someday, he hardly had any idea as to what the task would really entail.

Hence, Judas felt almost obliged to look out for and protect the boy whilst keeping himself at a distance - though the later part of that statement seemed to have been forgotten a long time ago - however, perhaps this was all partly to repent for what he had done whilst he was still known as 'Lion Magnus'. How he had betrayed Stahn's group, how he had been a puppet to his corrupted father...

More recently though, something had changed. Certainly Kyle had matured, both as a man and as a fighter, but that wasn't all. He, too, had changed, and his feelings with it. It was only now, as he watched Kyle sleep from where he sat beside the window, that he began to wonder when it was that he saw the boy as 'Stahn's son' less and less... and when it was that he...

A voice unheard by anyone else except the Masked Man whispered softly. "... Love him? ... Yes, perhaps I do." Judas replied in a whisper as he got to his feet, taking off his mask and placing it and his barely touched book on the bedside table. Offering an unseen smile to the sleeping boy, the dark haired teen slid into the bed beside him.


End file.
